During the first half of 2013, ICEIDA, along with geothermal consultants from Iceland Geosurvey (ISOR), cooperated with the European Union Delegation in Rwanda and the Great Lakes Energy Authority (EGL) in the preparations of a regional geothermal exploration project in the Bugurama/Ruzizi region in Burundi/Rwanda/DRC. This cooperation was part of the ICEIDA/NDF support to geothermal exploration and capacity building in East Africa.
Under the European Development Fund (EDF) Financing Agreement “Programme de relance de la CEPGL” a contract for the execution of this project was recently awarded to Reykjavik Geothermal (RG) with EGL as the implementing agency. The contract entails that RG will conduct reconnaissance and surface exploration studies at particular sites in the three countries and conduct exploration drilling at a viable target site, subsequent the surface exploration.
The cooperation between ICEIDA, EUD Rwanda and EGL is now set to continue throughout the implementation of this regional exploration project. ICEIDA will provide support for the supervision and monitoring of the exploration studies, which entails that ISOR will provide technical assistance and support to EGL in their implementation role and to EUD as the contracting authority.
As part of the implementation of the project it is also considered important to build capacity in the field of geothermal within EGL and the three countries. For this purpose a short course for decision makers on geothermal development will be held for the project steering committee and representatives from the three countries, in Kenya 25-28 September. The United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme (UNU-GTP) will organize the course, in collaboration with KenGen and GDC in Kenya. The immediate objective of this short course is further to equip EGL and the project steering committee with relevant knowledge in geothermal development to administer and manage the regional geothermal exploration project.
The project implementation is set to start in November.
